Overview
This study measured total mercury and methylmercury in sardine and swordfish from three Algerian coastal areas and estimated dietary exposure for adult consumers.
Key numbers
Source units are mg/kg wet weight unless otherwise stated.
- Sample size: sardine n=43 and swordfish n=44, total n=87.
- Sardine: total Hg 0.04 +/- 0.03; MeHg 0.04 +/- 0.02.
- Swordfish: total Hg 0.61 +/- 0.47; MeHg 0.57 +/- 0.45.
- Highest regional swordfish values reported in text: North Centre/Algiers total Hg 0.77 +/- 0.41 and MeHg 0.64 +/- 0.38.
- EDI for swordfish: total Hg 0.098 ug/kg bw/day; MeHg 0.092 ug/kg bw/day.
- EWI for swordfish: total Hg 0.7 ug/kg bw/week; MeHg 0.64 ug/kg bw/week.
Methods
Total Hg was determined on a direct mercury analyzer (AMA-254) without prior chemical digestion; samples thermally degraded at 750 degC with the amalgamator heated to 900 degC and Hg measured at 254 nm. Reported LOD/LOQ for total Hg were 0.005 and 0.010 mg/kg w.w. MeHg was extracted with hydrobromic acid and toluene, back-extracted into L-cysteine, and quantified on the same AMA-254 instrument; reported LOD/LOQ for MeHg were 0.010 and 0.020 mg/kg w.w. Quality control used reference materials ERM-CE278k lyophilized mussels and a Fapas canned-fish RM for total Hg, and TORT-2 lyophilized fish for MeHg.
Implications
This source supports Algerian swordfish and sardine mercury occurrence with explicit total-Hg and MeHg speciation. The authors compare values against 0.5 mg/kg for sardine and 1 mg/kg for swordfish.
Related evidence
- Swordfish
- Fish
- Seafood
- Fresh Fish
- Fish — marine, predatory (tuna, swordfish, shark, king mackerel)
- Fish — marine, non-predatory (sardines, anchovies, salmon, cod)
- Mercury, Total
- Methylmercury
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